A Mecca for Prejudice and Bigotry?

Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik has come under fire for referring to his state, Arizona, as a ‘mecca for prejudice and bigotry.’ Those are harsh words, but is the sheriff just calling it as he sees it?

The longer version (7 minutes) where Sheriff Dupnik talks about his thoughts. He does not call out a specific group or person here either. He just talks about the history of threats against Gabby Giffords and also about the level of anger in the rhetoric in this country.

It is important to note that Sheriff Dupnik called no individual or group by name. Perhaps those who follow the sheriff’s politics know to whom he is referring. I do not. Is Arizona a mecca for bigotry? If yes, what has made it that way? Is it just about immigration or do other political issues come in to play? Congresswoman Giffords was a strong supporter of increased border security.

Moonhowlings featured a post on Sheriff Clarence Dupnik last spring. He felt it was stupid to throw illegal immigrants in jail at tax payer expensive when he could just turn them over to the border control. At the time, it was also determined that the mayor of Tucson also opposed the new Arizona legislation, SB 1070. He turned thousands of undocumented immigrants over to the border control.

As we return to the question, is Arizona a mecca of intolerance? Does the political climate in Arizona make this state more vulnerable to shootings and assassinations? Does the drug violence have any play in this discussion?

@Moon-howler
Wow, what a difference 12 to 24 hours makes. Right back to the far left. You interested in seeing some of the hatred and violence espoused by the left through the Bush years? Diving right into the political battle. How much did you love Democratic West Virginian Manchin blasting away during his commercials?

Moon-howler :
Suggestion: stop going to your far right stops on the internet and I bet you will stop getting so aggitated. I don’t go to those spots. I haven’t heard the far left crap you all are supposedly being inundated with.

Sheriff Dupnik has not been particularly popular with the right, especially the anti-immigration crowd. Commentators are acting like he is a new discovery rather than someone they have not liked hearing from for quite some time.

Moon-howler :Suggestion: stop going to your far right stops on the internet and I bet you will stop getting so aggitated. I don’t go to those spots. I haven’t heard the far left crap you all are supposedly being inundated with.

Selective hearing….I’m familiar with the problem!

No, selective web surfing. I don’t go looking for things to rile me up. I avoid far left and far right spots.

Cargo,
What validity do these blogs have as far as substantiated facts regarding what the sheriff knew or did not know. To me, these stories do NOT sound credible. If he had diagnosed mental impairments, he would have been unable to purchase a gun.

@Emma, actually, I believe that was the President who said not to rush to any conclusions.

We might want to ask ourselves the following: What if the shooter had gotten away and there was a man hunt for him. How would questioning go? Where would law enforcement begin? Probably they would start with a list of enemies of the Congresswoman and the judge. Who would have surfaced at the top of the list? For the Congresswoman–opponents, political opponents, people she had beaten out, people who disliked Jews, Democrats, pro-lifers, etc etc. For the judge- who had had he beaten out for the job, people he had sent to prison, disgruntled divorce parties.

Questioning perceived enemies is human nature and also a part of law enforcement.

I don’t think as much in terms of left and right as some of you all do. That is perhaps because I am not a consistent ideologue.

Right now, it all sounds like politics as usual. I think we will all emerge out of this with better manners. That would be my goal, at least.

@Elena
As was reported by both local sources (via here) and Reuters, Sheriff Dupnik himself revealed that Loughner had made death threats against at least one person who was not Congresswoman Giffords.

“As we understand it, there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill,” Dupnik said during a press conference Saturday evening. But he wouldn’t say who those threats were aimed at.

That remark seems vague. Could have been the campus police. Could have been anyone, We may never know.

I am curious. Where are all the leftie stations and websites? I should go take look.
I was horribly offended by Beck and O’Reilly. If there is something out there that set them off like what I heard, I should see it myself.

Cargosquid :@Moon-howler
This blog has been an example that should be followed.
I’ve not been listening to Beck lately. Kid’s sick, and we have the TV on.
But the Left has just been going nuts. They REALLY want to pin this on the right, especially Palin and the Tea Party.

Sarah Palin has been awfully quiet lately. Where is she? She isn’t just another rightie blogger, she is an aspirant to the Office of the Presidency of the United States. I, for one, would like to know what she meant by those crosshairs on Giffords ‘ district. And i want to hear it from her, not one of her thousand defenders. But so far, nothing but a “tweet” or two.

At times of national tragedy, individuals who aspire to be national leaders seize opportunities to lead. Sarah Palin has yet to do so. She is not fit to be President of the United States.

Moon-howler :
I am curious. Where are all the leftie stations and websites? I should go take look.
I was horribly offended by Beck and O’Reilly. If there is something out there that set them off like what I heard, I should see it myself.

Starry, I had the TV on most of the night. I keep hearing how she responded ‘with grace and dignity.’ I sure haven’t heard a peep from her.

What I did hear is horrible attacks on Sheriff Dupnik. He is a 76 year old 30-year vet of the same police force. He knows more about what is going on in District 8 than the rest of us. I heard so many people calling for his job. He would probably love to retire.

Giffords has had her door kicked or shot in hours after she voted for the HCR bill. She has had death threats. There are neo-nazis in the desert and the immigration issue roars on. I think Dupnik can certainly address the tone of his own region. I NEVER heard him assign a cause/effect to this tragic incident.

I heard a “rightie” on the radio last night say we needed more tax dollars to address mental health issues long term. I heard a leftie say we needed to slow down on the blame game and focus more on diagnosis, treatment and assessment and punishment.

@Moon-howler
We’ve been mentioning who the offending lefties have been. Olberman, DailyKos, Krugman, assorted others. The difference is, now the “right” won’t just take it anymore. The “silent majority” is silent no longer.

Cargosquid :From Drudge via Gateway Pundit, who has a WHOLE LOT on the shooting and the Left’s attempt to politicize this: http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/ (Just scroll down)
Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation
This is how we know that the shooter was mental. Also, we are not getting the left’s attacks from “far right” sites. We are getting it from DailyKos, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, Krugman, etc. The sites are just reporting the attempts to politicize this and attempt to smear the “right” and the Tea Party.
If one does not want to be accused of extremism or racism or hatemongering or violence, then don’t be a CONSERVATIVE with targeting or bullseyes are use shooting jargon on websites or when talking about politics. The Left always gets a pass.

Cargo,
The only substantiated comment I can find is this one:

Dupnik said there had been earlier contact between Loughner and law enforcement after he had made death threats, although they had not been against Giffords. He said the authorities believe he may not have been working alone.

To suggest that the Sheriff had a formal report on Jared’s mental status appears erroneous.

Moon-howler :Starry, I had the TV on most of the night. I keep hearing how she responded ‘with grace and dignity.’ I sure haven’t heard a peep from her.
What I did hear is horrible attacks on Sheriff Dupnik. He is a 76 year old 30-year vet of the same police force. He knows more about what is going on in District 8 than the rest of us. I heard so many people calling for his job. He would probably love to retire.
Giffords has had her door kicked or shot in hours after she voted for the HCR bill. She has had death threats. There are neo-nazis in the desert and the immigration issue roars on. I think Dupnik can certainly address the tone of his own region. I NEVER heard him assign a cause/effect to this tragic incident.

I don’t recall hearing about violence after the medicare prescription act was passed, nor do I recall any violence from people over the Iraq war, or torture allegations, or FISA, or the Patriot Act. What I do recall are elected officals being accused of not being patriots if they questioned the war in Iraq, what I do recall is Max Clealand being likened to Osama Bin Laden because he had concerns about the Iraq war, THAT is what I remember. Or how about Michelle Bachman suggesting there be an investigation into the patriotism of her fellow congressmen and womn.

@Elena, for anyone to have a formal report on Jarod’s status he would have had to undergo an evaluation. I don’t think that happened.

There is lots of myth and crap floating about….that simply isn’t true.

Juturna, who are you suggesting we shun?

Elena, what was done to Max Clelland was horrible! He grew increasingly despondent and had serious bouts with depression for 2 years after that. The smear campaign against him was probably the lowest, vilest thing I have ever heard of.

I am sick and tired of hearing the same old tired mantra” Guns don’t kill people, PEOPLE kill people” For God’s sake, it’s so damn obvious: If these sick bastards couldn’t get their hands on clips that can shoot 30 rounds or more at a time, they wouldn’t be able to kill off so many people so damn quickly. It is time to have some common sense and some firearm regulations in this country. How many people have to be murdered before we get this through our heads??? this has nothing do do with gun control. If people want to hunt or target practice or protect themselves, they can keep their guns, but semi automatic weapons should be off limits. Jesus God almighty……… I am sick and tired of the NRA and their multi million dollar lobby. It’s about profit disguised as freesom to bear arms. I wish people would use some critical thinking

ARIZONA REPUBLIC TO SHERIFF DUPNIK: Shut up and remember your duty. “Enough attacks, sheriff. Enough vitriol. It is well past time for the sheriff of Pima County to get a grip on his emotions and remember his duty. . . . Dupnik needs to recall that he is elected to be a lawman. With each additional comment, the Democratic sheriff of Pima County is revealing his agenda as partisan, and, as such, every bit as recklessly antagonistic as the talk-show hosts and politicians he chooses to decry.”

UPDATE: Dupnik should have been doing his job before: Police Say They Visited Tucson
Suspect’s Home Even Before Rampage.

I don’t know why Dupnik makes these remarks but he’s starting to tick of HIS people now.